Hacker News Reader

Comment by kiiski | Hacker News Reader

We're talking about nations, not people, so I don't think "GDP per capita" is relevant. USA has by far the highest total GDP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin...

View on HN

Per-capita is way more important, a rich man doesn't need more than one toothbrush and it's detrimental for a country when other men can't afford a single one.

The question is "which country is the richest and most powerful". If we use the per capita statistics, Luxembourg is. That doesn't sound quite right, does it? If we look at the totals instead, the top ranks are USA, China, Japan and Germany. If you ask me, that seems more like what we're looking for.

Who is this "we" are you talking about? USA spends most of its income in military which is as dystopian as it gets, plus it haves 5.1 trillions in debt, while there are countries with no debt at all.

Insofar as domestic policy is concerned, per-capita is relevant.

Foreign policy, which is decided by governments that tax the aggregate population (and thus draw from the GDP)? Not in the slightest.

We are talking about foreign policy? I just found out, I would have swear we were talking about economical influence on international tech news coverage.

Your post was in response to a post that contained the statement, "the richest and most powerful country in the world."

Foreign policy, affected by GDP, certainly plays a role in this.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com